Cultivation of crops and plants is not possible, or economically feasible, in many areas of this country and abroad. Some locales, particularly within arid climates, are prone to have dry, compacted soils not suitable to root development, plant growth and maintenance. Areas that normally receive little rainfall or regions stricken by drought are also likely to have soils which are parched and dense, as are tracts disadvantaged by a sloping topography. Besides having a poor texture, the soil in these territories is also apt to be depleted in the minerals essential to plant development. Lands above aquifers or other underground water structures are also candidates for mineral depletion, as vital elements in the soil leach into the underground waters and are swept away. Soil conservation is further hampered by chemical pollution caused by industry, high levels of automobile emissions and illegal dumping. This problem of poor soil composition extends to the nursery and gardening industries, as well as to the potted plants of the "week-end" gardener.
Long used in soil management to bolster the receptivity of soil to crops and plants are a variety of soil supplements, such as peat moss, fertilizers and mulches. However, the use of these soil supplements leaves something to be desired. Peat moss, for instance, is much too expensive to make its use economically feasible on a large scale. And fertilizers, if used in areas predisposed to leaching, pass straight through the soil and are washed away. Mulches, especially of the backyard "home-cooked" type, do not serve to adequately replenish nutrients lost by the soil.
A more general problem exists throughout the world in connection with the disposal of waste products, particularly waste paper and waste cardboard. If placed in large quantities in landfills, waste paper degrades very, very slowly, particularly if disposed of in normal compacted form. The expense of shredding waste paper prior to disposal in a landfill has been too high to make it economically feasible to require all waste paper and waste cardboard to be shredded before disposal; and even if shredded, the shredded material becomes highly compacted, and, if covered with earth, it biodegrades very slowly.
For these reasons, there exists a need for an improved soil supplement that can be made employing a product, which within itself constitutes a waste disposal problem (waste paper), that not only loosens and improves the texture of dry, compacted soils, but that also retains moisture in the ground, reduces the leaching of nutrients into aquifers and the like, and adds essential nutrients to the soil.